Shining Through
by Geek Scribe
Summary: Monster, dangerous, a threat to herself, Amy had been called all of those things. Proving them wrong while juggling friends, foes, romance and drama is not going to be an easy task. But can the hope of a new beginning brighten Amy's days and help the World see the frightened girl who's desperate to shine through?
1. Chapter 1

**Stranger**

_A newcomer to a place, locality or concept._

* * *

"Amy! Get away from there, Hun."

Amy clung tightly to the wire fence. The mettle dug into her hands.

She watched in wonder as the kids on the other side played. They pounced. They ran. They jumped. They fell. All this happened without a care in the World.

Amy cocked her head. Why couldn't she do that?

"Amy," the kindergarten teacher sighed, marching straight over. "What did I tell you? Get away from there."

Amy felt the young woman's hands wrap around her until she was bundled up in her arms.

"Let's get you back inside. I think you've had enough for today."

Amy watched over the teacher's shoulder as the other children continued to play. It seemed like so much fun. When was the last time Amy had fun?

Back into the generic, brick school the two went.

Amy was placed gently so that she sat on an ABC rug in a classroom reserved just for her.

The walls were white and covered in pinned up art that she had made. Well, it wasn't art as much as coloured pictures. She always had to colour in the lines too, which was no fun.

Amy looked up at her teacher and pouted.

"Can I play with the others?"

"What other's," the adult replied. "There's no one else here."

"The one's outside," Amy pointed to the door.

"No, you can't."

"Why not?"

The teacher gave Amy a smile and patted her head.

"Because, sweetheart, you have to learn first."

"Learn what?"

That's where the conversation ended. That's where the conversation always ended. There was never really a clear answer for Amy's isolation, nor were there any clues to justify a social quarantine.

It didn't matter. Amy shrugged it off as always and went over to the toy box to find her favourite doll.

The teacher knelt down in her own spot on the carpet and grinned as Amy skipped back over and sat across from her.

"Who's this?"

The teacher gestured towards the doll in Amy's hand.

"Sarah!"

"I though she was Claire last time."

"Well, now she's Sarah."

A sigh came from the older of the two. "What do we say about inconsistency?"

"It confuses people."

"And when people are confused do they understand you?"

Amy thought about that before shaking her head.

"And how does it make you feel when people don't understand you?"

Another second of pondering passed.

"Angry," she answered.

"No," the teacher said sternly. "Not angry, never angry. Anger doesn't exist. It's a secondary emotion. What do you really feel Amy?"

Amy ground her teeth in thought. She really never understood it when her instructor went off on these lessons about anger. Who'd expect her to get it any ways? She was only a 4-year-old girl.

Amy quickly decided that a shrug would be the best response.

The teacher frowned.

"You'll get it soon, don't worry."

Amy looked back at her doll.

Somehow soon didn't feel soon enough.

* * *

"Next!"

"Huh?"

Amy was snatched away from thoughts of home by a lazy, sultry voice belonging to a tall, curvy white bat.

"Next," she repeated, clearly peeved at Amy's lack of concentration.

Amy stepped forwards toward the outdoor orientation stand where the other girl sat.

She tried to lend the girl a bright smile to smooth over the initial bump in her first impression. It did nothing for her.

"What's your name, Pinkie?"

Amy frowned.

It wasn't the name so much as the degrading tone the other student used that unsettled the newcomer.

"Amy Rose," she answered.

"Amy Rose," the bat mused.

Trailing her fingers over various cards on the table in front of her, the bat picked out one that read Amy Rose and was plastered with the pink hedgehog's picture.

"Here you go," she handed Amy her card. "It's your student ID but it's also your library and key card. Bottom line, _don't lose it_."

Amy flinched away at the intensity in the bat's voice but nodded.

She took the card and opened up the front pocket of her luggage beside her, tucking the ID inside so as not to lose it.

With a hesitant smile and a goodbye Amy went off in the direction that the orientation signs said was the student dormitories.

Dragging her luggage behind her, Amy pushed on through the campus, marvelling at the variety of students around her.

First of all, back in the Piko colonies, genders were separated in schools. So the mere sight of boys passing footballs on the lawn was enough to paint a blush on her muzzle.

Then there was the...interesting mix of students who attended, that earned the boarding school it's name, Union Academy. Teenagers from all three colonies attended. Chaos, Gaia, Piko, they were all here.

It was quite the controversial teaching method at first but now, after running for nearly a decade with an impeccable record for good grades and academic excellence, Union had become the 'it' school.

Amy smiled at the thought. That's right, Union Academy was for the best of the best and she was here. Ha! Screw the negative Nellie's back home. She could do this.

...Or maybe not.

Half way to the dorms and Amy had already encountered the worst enemy of any person who has ever carried luggage: stairs.

Amy gaped.

Why was it that stairs seemed to double in length whenever you had a bag with you?

Taking a step forward she contemplated how to do this.

Her first attempt included dragging the wheeled bag behind her. That didn't work. Too many people were pushing past her, in a rather rude manner, and she kept losing her grip.

Next she tried tucking the long handle back in and just carrying her things. That was problematic too. Amy was a small girl with a very big bag that contained everything she needed to survive for a whole school year.

Letting out a frustrated groan the pink hedgie ended up exactly where she stared, the bottom.

Mulling over the possibility of finding a way around the stairs or searching for a ramp Amy's attention was quickly drawn away from her predicament.

"Need some help?"

The question came from a tall, fit looking boy.

He smiled at her with the kind of sincerity any lost girl would find worthy of a swoon. Amy was not excluded.

"I was just having problems with my bag," Amy admitted, timidly. "Don't worry though. I can handle it."

"No," the boy insisted. "Let me carry it. I'll get it up there for you."

"Well...okay. Thank you."

"No problem."

Amy smiled.

What a gentleman. The people back home were wrong. Boys outside the colony weren't all pigs.

She stepped ahead of her saviour walking up the steps with an easy relief. Getting to the top victoriously Amy turned to the stairs where the boy was carrying her luggage.

Do you know what she saw? Nothing. The boy had ran off with her bags...ID card included.

* * *

Amy wasn't the pessimistic type. She never had been. Yet, something about being caught in the dark, alone, in an unfamiliar place, with nowhere to sleep, kind of made her want to curl up and cry.

Amy was perched on the front steps of the girls' dormitory, unable to enter.

Apparently the key card function of the ID didn't just apply to bedrooms. You needed the cards to access dorm buildings and class buildings.

So, Amy basically had to sleep like a hobo until she could sort things out in the morning.

What a wonderful first day.

"Attention staff and students, curfew is in exactly five minutes. Please prepare for all public buildings to be locked down."

Public buildings? Did she mean there were places you didn't need an ID to access.

Amy stood, rushing down the campus path as fast as she could. Maybe she could find a public building in time to find rest there.

Running along, Amy's eyes darted from door-to-door.

Swipe pad. Swipe pad. Swipe pad. Swipe pad. No swipe pad.

Amy looked up to see that the building was labelled as a fitness centre. She could make do with that.

Rushing up to the door, Amy opened it and slid through.

As it closed behind her she heard a click. She tried it again from inside now. It was locked.

Well, at least she was inside and out of the fresh, Autumn chilled night.

Turning back around Amy's eyes searched desperately through the room.

If she squinted she could just make out the silhouette's of a few basic pieces of furniture. There was a desk and chairs lining the walls with a few coffee tables.

This must have been the foyer.

Amy groped around in the dark trying to make her way to the other side of the room, feeling nothing in her way.

Once she reached the back of the foyer she searched for a door knob. Luckily for her, the object of her interest was just a few steps the the left.

She tried this door. It opened with ease.

Amy entered into the next room.

It was lighter in here, she noted. Something illuminated the walls and fitness equipment inside with a bluish, liquid light that gave an underwater feel.

There must be a pool outside, Amy concluded, thinking nothing more of it.

Navigating much better through the lit room, Amy looked around for a comfortable, preferably hidden place for her to rest.

Her eyes roamed from the benches to the safety mats and everywhere in between. Nothing really seemed suitable. But then again, what was she expecting in a gym? A five star bed?

Amy shook her head at her own fickleness. This was no time to be picky.

Anything in here would be better than sleeping outside.

Amy walked on, past the equipment until she came across a double-door closet.

Opening up she saw towels and blankets were piled up. A linen closet, perfect.

Amy perched herself on a pile of towels on the floor.

Lying down she was happy to find that the space was comfortable enough for her when she curled up.

Reaching out she closed the door half way, leaving just enough room for the light to come in and sooth her through sleep.

* * *

Sonic had seen girls passed out in closets before.

There was the time when Rouge was whisked away by Knuckles for 7 minutes in Heaven or when Cream ran away from a raging party only to fall asleep after an hour of hiding.

This girl, however, was different. Sonic had no idea what her deal was.

"Hey," he whispered, kneeling beside the girl's sleeping figure. "You okay?"

She let out a moan and shifted in her spot on the pile of towels and blankets.

Sonic frowned.

What was she doing here?

He went over his options his head.

He could wake her up and take her to the office building, have the staff deal with her.

The problem there was then they'd know he and the others snuck into the centre to go swimming.

Sonic reached out one of his fingers and poked the girl's soft cheek.

This time she didn't even stir.

What could he do? Leaving her to sleep in a closet definitely wasn't an option.

Rouge was a dorm leader. Maybe she could set Amy up.

Sonic stood back up, stepping away quietly towards the door.

When he went out the back he was immediately greeted a loud voice.

"Hey Sonic! Where are the towels?"

"Sssssshhhhhh!" Sonic hissed.

He peeked his head back inside the not yet closed door and felt relief wash over him that the girl hadn't woken up.

"What's with you?"

Sonic pointed his words towards a silver hedgehog lazing by the pool.

"Quiet, Silver."

Sonic walked past his friend towards Rouge.

"But the tow-"

"Zip."

The others, Tails, Knuckles and Blaze went on with whatever their conversation was beforehand as Silver sulked and Rouge, lying on a beach chair relaxing raised an eye at Sonic.

"Why the foul mood?"

"There's a girl sleeping in the closet."

Rouge smirked.

"Knuckles!" She called playfully. "I think you whacked Sonic one too many times in the head."

"I'm serious!" Sonic insisted. "Just come on."

Rouge rolled her eyes but trailed Sonic back inside.

Once in he held his finger to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet.

He then side stepped over to the closet door and opened it even more to reveal the dainty little pink hedgehog bundled up within.

"Oh my-"

"Ssh."

Rouge lowered her tone. "What is she doing here?"

Sonic shrugged. "I have no idea."

Rouge stepped over to stand beside Sonic before getting down to the girl's level.

She looked the girl up and down. She was small. It was easy to think that someone could have forcibly stuck her in there. Then again there were no bruises.

Curiously, Rouge narrowed her eyes. For some reason she had the feeling she had seen this girl before.

Rouge brushed some quills away from the girl's face to reveal none other than one of the new students she had given an ID card too as part of her new 'senior dorm leader duties.'

Rouge groaned. What was her name again? She couldn't remember. All she knew was that she called her Pinky.

"She's a newbie," Rouge whispered. "She must have lost her card."

Sonic cocked his head. "And her luggage. Doesn't look like she has anything with her."

The ivory bat looked around.

He was right. No sign of any bags. Now that she thought about it, Pinky had put the card in her luggage. But where would she lose a whole suitcase?

The answer finally hit her.

Scourge.

Rouge sighed. "Alright, then let's go."

"Where we going?"

"You're gonna help me bring her up to my room. C'mon."

Sonic groaned but obeyed.

Carefully, Sonic stepped to Rouge's side, bent down and managed to cradle the girl in his arms.

"Man, she is tiny."

"Probably a Piko," Rouge reasoned. "All the Piko girls are pretty tiny."

"Great, we have another Cream on our hands."

"Or worse, another Vanilla."

"Ugh."

The two walked side-by-side as Rouge guided Sonic out of the fitness centre and over to the girl's dorms.

* * *

**Okay, guys. This is the first chapter of my new story. I really hope you all like it so far. Review and share your thought, tell me if you want me to continue and criticism is always welcome. **

**Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Meeting**

_The act of coming together._

* * *

"Is she alright? Did you check her temperature? Maybe she passed out or got mugged or beaten or-"

"Ssh, she's waking up."

Amy's eyes fluttered open at the sound of unfamiliar voices.

She groaned, shielding her eyes from the brightness of the morning light.

That's when the flood gates opened and memories came pouring back to Amy.

She sat up, craning her head around to see that she was lying in a dorm, not a closet full of towels.

What had happened? How the Hell did she get here?

One of the two girls, the curvy bat from the orientation stand, noticed the panic on Amy's face.

"It's okay," she tried to reassure her. "Don't worry. I'm Rouge and this is Cream. We helped bring you here."

"Where is here?"

As soon as the words left her mouth Amy regretted it.

She sounded so suspicious. Her teachers always told her not to be that way because it made people uncomfortable, which could lead to anger on both ends.

Rouge and Cream didn't seem to think anything of it, though.

It was only natural that she'd be wary.

"This is my room," Rouge answered calmly.

Amy inspected the space a little more closely.

The walls were bare and the furniture was generic. Even the sheets were a typical pale pink to signify a girl's dorm room.

Amy looked over at Cream and blushed.

"Did I take your bed?"

"Oh no," the rabbit shook her head. "I live next door. Rouge's room mate never showed up."

"So I guess she's you," the bat concluded with a sigh. "And here I was thinking I wouldn't have to share this year."

Amy frowned.

"I'm sorry."

Rouge waved it off.

"Not your fault. It was stupid of me to think."

Amy kicked the covers off herself.

Beneath, her uniform was askew and looked slept in.

That's just perfect.

"I don't have another uniform," Amy whimpered to no one in particular.

"It was stolen, right?" Cream asked.

"How did you know?"

"The guy who found you said you didn't have any luggage," Rouge explained. "So we put two and two together."

Amy's face turned a bright shade of pink when she heard Rouge's words.

"What's wrong?"

"A...a boy found me?"

Rouge raised an eyebrow, confused. "Yeah, he's the one who carried you here too. Why?"

Amy could just imagine some boy finding her, picking her up, carrying her. It was such a strange thought. It was such a bad thought for her to have.

Cream smiled knowingly at the new girl.

"I'm from Piko too," Cream chimed in. "I know how hard it can be to adjust to the idea of mingling genders."

It wasn't just that. Amy didn't just attend a gender separated school in Piko, she was also educated away from the girls. Plus the fact that even outside of school she wasn't allowed much contact with the other kids.

She scratched the back of her head and smiled nervously.

"I was just worried," Amy fibbed. "You know how boys are."

Rouge crossed her legs and sat back in the desk chair.

"You're still lucky it was Sonic, though. He's a good guy. He'd never lay a hand on you."

Amy blushed. Others would?

Well, she'd have to thank him for finding her then.

A knock echoed through the room and Rouge popped up from her seat to get the door.

A purple cat stood at the other end.

"Are we going or not?" The girl got straight to the point.

"Alright, alright! We're coming, Blaze. Keep your tail on."

Cream smiled brightly.

"We're going to the activities fair," the rabbit gushed to Amy. "Would you like to come?"

Amy gave a little smile and nodded, much to the joy of the rabbit.

"Then come on. I have a spare uniform that will fit you and after you change we'll get going."

* * *

"Why did we come to the girls' dorms again?" Knuckles asked, looking at the Den Mothers in the lobby who were shooting the group of boys death glares.

Sonic stayed mute.

He couldn't answer because, honestly, he wasn't exactly sure why. He suspected that it had something to do with moral obligation, though.

All he was really certain of was that he needed to see that girl, if only once. He was sure it would put his mind at ease.

"We came to pick up some hot girls," Silver cut in. "Duh!"

If looks could kill the Den Mothers would have burned a hole through Silver.

He didn't seem to notice, or care.

Sonic couldn't help but smile at the scene.

Silver was always getting himself into trouble yet he never seemed to notice.

Watching Silver was like watching a train wreck, it was awful but you just couldn't take your eyes away.

"You have a girlfriend," Knuckles countered. "So do I! Even Tails has one!"

The fox blushed. "We're not-"

"Why would we need to be here to pick up girls?"

"We're obviously Sonic's wing men, Knux. Don't be so inconsiderate! You're not the only one who needs to be in someone's pants."

Sonic didn't find it nearly as funny when the glares were directed towards him.

He pinned his ears back and gave the Den Moms a nervous smile.

"Uh...they're just joking."

"Mmmhm."

They didn't believe him.

"So why are we really here?" Tails, spoke just loud enough to be heard over Knuckles and Silver's banter but quiet enough that the Den Moms wouldn't catch a word.

"Remember that girl I told you about last night?"

"The one you found in a closet?"

"Yeah."

Tails smirked. How could he forget? Sonic had come back to the pool drained, completely unlike his usual, lively self.

"Vaguely."

"Well, I just wanted to come see if she was okay." Sonic explained.

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"Alright."

Tails left it at that.

Sonic was thankful for it. There was nothing more to be said after all.

Almost everyone else around him was sure that any girl Sonic so much as looked at must be someone he was interested in.

That wasn't the case and, frankly, that kind of mentality annoyed him.

Boys and girls could be just friends, close friends for that matter. Dating wasn't everything.

Tails was cool about it, though. He'd prod and drop the occasional, 'she seems nice' hint but nothing more.

"Hey."

Sonic's ears perked back up at the sound of Rouge's voice greeting them.

He looked over towards the stairs and saw that she was halfway down, being trailed by Blaze, Cream and Closet Girl.

"What are you guys doing here?" Cream's softer voice asked.

Tails smiled at the sight of her, opening his mouth to answer before he got cut off.

"We're trying to find a girl for Sonic to bang!" Silver announced.

A swift kick to the balls would shut him up. Sonic would do it too...if there weren't so many witnesses.

Rouge laughed and Cream blushed madly.

"I'm sorry I asked."

Tails groaned. "Trust me, we are too."

Sonic's eyes were drawn back to the girl on the stairs.

She stood there, frozen like a deer in the headlights, as Cream, Blaze and Rouge reached the bottom of the stairs and started to mingle.

Sonic swore he could see her chest thud with a fearful heart beat.

Her eyes were wide as she looked through the group. She just seemed so scared.

"Hi," Sonic walked up to the stairs, standing at the bottom and trying to be as non-threatening as possible.

"Um...hi."

She was a shy one. But then again, so was Cream before Rouge got a hold of her.

"I just wanted to check and see if you were okay."

Her eyes widened at his words.

"Wait are you...Sonic?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm the one that found you."

The girl's cheeks turned a brilliant red as she lowered her eyes and clenched her hands into nervous fists.

She was probably embarrassed.

Sonic ran his fingers through his quills, trying to think of something to say when the girl suddenly cut in for him.

"THANK YOU FOR NOT MOLESTING ME!"

Sonic's mind was literally blown to pieces.

Before he could respond he felt that unearthly burning in his back.

He could feel it. The Den Mothers' eyes were ripping into his body and tying his entrails into twisted knots.

Oh! The pain!

"Amy!" Rouge called. "We're going now. You still wanna come?"

Amy nodded, rushing to the other girls and leaving the dorms with them.

The boys lagged behind, looking at their nearly traumatized friend.

"Are...uh...you coming?" Knuckles asked.

"You damn creeper," Silver added under his breath.

Sonic turned around, watching the retreating figure of Closet Girl.

He nodded.

With that he followed along.

Tails placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she was just a little flustered."

* * *

Amy hid her red face in her hands, totally mortified.

Why had she said that? That's not how she meant it to come out.

With a glance behind her she could see that they were being trailed by the group of boys, Sonic included.

He looked a little unsettled and Amy knew it was all her fault!

Amy felt a warm finger tap her shoulder. She turned to see the purple cat, Blaze, Rouge had called her, giving her a once over look and then a smile.

"Look on the bright side. At least the Den Moms will hate him now."

Amy frowned. "Isn't that bad?"

"For him maybe but it's fun to watch."

Well, that didn't help at all.

After a few more minutes of reflecting on her blunder Amy's attention was pulled towards the stands that lined the campus paths.

She became engrossed in them, reading each club. There was abstract art, equestrian, tennis, book club, media. It was all there.

Amy swore she wanted to stop at each and every stand she came to.

Rouge stopped her.

"Whoa there, Pinkie. It's best to choose just one or two and run with those. You don't want to have a stuffed agenda on your hands."

Amy nodded, reading back over the signs that had caught her attention.

Book club looked like the most interesting of them.

Amy loved to read.

Besides, back in Piko she had a limited selection of what she was allowed to read. They said literature could flare anger easily and therefore she could not invest herself in certain novels.

Here she could read whatever she wanted. It was a thrilling idea.

"I like that one."

Amy pointed at the stand.

Rouge shrugged, clearly uninterested in it herself.

"Suit yourself."

Amy approached the stand, smiling timidly at the senior girl who was working it.

"Hi! I'm Maia! President of the Union Academy Book Club. You are?"

That was quite the official title the girl had there. Amy wasn't sure she could top it.

"Amy," she answered. "Amy Rose."

The girl smiled at Amy encouragingly.

"Do you like to read?"

"Yes, but I don't get the chance to do it a lot."

"Perfect! Here's your chance. We have a selection of books we'll be reading spread out on the table here. Plus there will be free read weeks where we get to choose our own books from the library. You'll definitely get some reading time here."

Amy smiled.

It was a very appealing thought.

Looking down Amy trailed her hands over the book covers. There was Great Gatsby, Handmaid's Tale, Jane Eyre and a couple more.

As she approached The Oldman and the Sea her hand was stopped. She had met the touch of a much larger hand than hers.

She looked up to get a clear glance of Sonic who was looking right back at her.

She averted her eyes but could still feel his gaze.

"You like to read?" He asked.

Amy nodded, pulling her hand away from his.

She couldn't see it but Sonic smiled warmly at her.

He was beginning to come to the conclusion that she was quite the little clumsy girl. Always saying the wrong thing, doing something questionable but never with bad intentions, like a kitten.

Hmm, yeah, she was sort of like a kitten. The wide eyes that marveled at everything in her path, the curious trailing paws, the shy attitude, she was most definitely a kitten.

"Do you think you'll join?"

"Yeah."

Thinking it over Sonic nodded.

"I will too. You can keep me company."

Taking a pen from Maia, Sonic scribbled his name onto the list before handing it to Amy.

She took it with a shaking hand, shocked when their hands met, but leaned down to write her name anyways, brushing off the strange vibe she got from this boy.

Turning on her heels Amy planned to make a fast retreat but found that nobody else was there.

Where had they went?

"They must have moved on without us," Sonic noted. "I guess we'll stick together then."

Amy's face turned red for the umpteenth time. She'd be alone with a boy? A boy she'd recently offended for that matter.

Amy let out a light squeal of protest as Sonic linked her arm through his but ended up just giving in and going for the ride as usual.

* * *

Amy went from being escorted around by one man to being surrounded by ten.

She was clinging for dear life to Sonic's arm when they stopped at the track and field stand.

Sonic didn't mind. He was just glad he was there to cling to if she was this nervous.

Sonic didn't talk to the guy behind the stand or ask any questions. He just grabbed a pen and signed up.

"Ah, look, Blue is here," one of the large, muscular boys pointed out.

"Isn't it kind of cheating since your Chaos power is speed, Sonic."

Sonic's ears perked up at the sound of the second voice.

With the slightest drop of venom in his tone, Sonic answered. "You're one to talk about cheating, Scourge."

Amy looked up at the receiving end of Sonic's wrath.

There stood a green hedgehog with icy blue eyes, emerald green fur and the...kind of smile any girl would swoon to see. Him!

"You stole my luggage!" Amy accused.

Scourge smirked.

"I stole a lot of people's luggage. Don't take it too personally. It was just a prank."

Amy was distruaght.

"Just a prank? I had to sleep in a closet because of you."

Scourge snickered. "Seriously? You mean, you didn't find it. Oh, man! Sonic! You must have a real ditz on your hands."

Sonic ignored Scourge but brought Amy a little bit closer with his linked arm. He didn't want her getting too upset.

Amy could feel something flaring. My God, it had been so long since she had felt this. It felt so damn GOOD!

"Give me my stuff back!" Amy demanded, breaking free from Sonic.

_Never make demands_, the teachers had told her. _It only leads to anger._

"Why should I?"

"Give me my stuff back NOW!"

_Raising your voice results in confrontations. Which only leads to anger._

"Ballsy little chica, aren't you?"

"Scourge, just give her the stuff back," Sonic intervened. "Don't be an asshole."

"It is literally in the most obvious place," Scourge answered. "It's not my fault if your little bitch here hasn't found it."

"Don't talk about her like that!"

"Isn't it true, Romeo?"

_No anger. No anger! NO anger! NO ANGER!_

"HOLY SHIT!"

Holy shit was right, Amy thought. Well, no going back now.

* * *

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the new update. Thank you to all that have followed and left a review, I really appreciate it. I'm glad that most of you seem to like the story so far. **

**Leave a comment and share your thoughts. I'm always glad to hear them.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Helping**

_Giving aid, support, assistance or the like._

* * *

"Why do I not believe you?"

Vanilla Rabbit, the councillor at Union Academy, raised one slender brow and drummed her fingers on her mahogany desk.

Scourge knocked his fist on the table with each syllable, trying emphasize what he was saying.

"She whacked me with a hammer," he yelled. "A giant hammer! She's a bi-"

"There's no room for that kind of language here," Vanilla snapped.

Amy gulped, feeling the rabbit's eyes turn to her.

She was sure that her guilt was painted on her face. There was no way she could lie to this woman.

It was true. Amy had hit Scourge in the nuts with a hammer.

He deserved it but she shouldn't have resorted to violence. In fact, she never should have gotten angry.

"So, you two," Mrs. Rabbit's eyes darted between Amy and Sonic, "what do you say happened?"

Amy opened her mouth but the words were too dry to come out.

She knew what was going to happen.

Mrs. Rabbit would call Amy's teachers and they'd come right over to bring her home.

Amy could kiss her dream of being normal goodbye.

"I kicked him," Sonic interjected. "He used some pretty vulgar language after Amy asked for her luggage back so I just kind of...lost my temper."

Vanilla gestured to Sonic and turned to Scourge.

"_That's_ a story I can believe."

Amy looked over at Sonic.

All she had been was trouble for him.

She had slept in a closet, screamed about molestation, dragged him into a fight and then pinned the blame on him.

Yet each time he just seemed all too happy to help.

It only worked to make Amy feel worse, like she was taking advantage of his kindness.

"Now, I must say I'm very disappointed in you, Sonic. But since this is unusual behaviour for you I'll let you off with a warning and a phone call home."

"But it wasn't him!" Scourge objected. "That girl has a freaking hammer! She pulled it out of thin air!"

Sonic laughed out loud catching everyone else off guard.

"Are you saying her Piko object is a hammer?"

"Yes! You saw it too!"

"Do you even know how Piko objects work?"

Vanilla nodded lightly.

"He's right. We, the people of Piko, only have objects that can be summoned to comfort us in times of despair. How would a weapon comfort anyone?"

"Because she's a sadistic monster!"

Sonic could see Amy flinch out of the corner of his eye.

He could tell that one really hit home.

"That's quite enough, Scourge," Vanilla cut him off. "This is all done and I suggest you go back and enjoy the activities fair because it's the last free time you'll have in a while after this little theft stunt."

Scourge narrowed his eyes and shot Sonic a glare.

"Nice job getting your chica off."

Sonic shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Standing, Scourge stormed out of the office with a huff.

Amy squeezed her eyes shut at the slam of the door.

This certainly was a pretty mess she had made of her first few school days.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Miss Rose," Vanilla apologized. "We'll have your luggage delivered right back to your room. Now, what's the number?"

"She bunks with Rouge," Sonic answered.

The rabbit's face lit up.

"Then you must have met my daughter, Cream."

That caught Amy's attention.

"Yes, she's seems very nice."

Sonic chuckled to which the mother sent him a glare.

"Oh, she is. I'll have her keep tabs on you. She'll keep dirty mitts off your things next time, alright, Doll?"

Amy smiled brightly.

It was nice to know at least two people from home now, Cream and Vanilla.

Now she'd know where to go if she ever had problems adjusting.

"Alright, thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Well," Sonic stood, rocking back and forth on his heels, tired of siting still. "I'm gonna get going now. So much to do, so little time. You coming?"

It took Amy a second to register what he said.

He still wanted her around? Why? She had been nothing but a bringer of problems for him.

Despite that, Amy nodded.

She couldn't stand the idea of being left to wander campus alone.

"Good," Sonic grinned widely.

Amy felt his hand under her arm as he eased her up and linked them again, as though he had escorted her a million times.

Her teachers were right about one thing so far: Chaos kids were very affectionate.

"Come on let's get going."

"A-alright," Amy answered, being dragged out by the boy. "Goodbye, Mrs. Rabbit."

"Goodbye, Dear."

As the pair left Vanilla couldn't help but frown.

A hammer, huh?

She shook her head.

It couldn't be.

Scourge was just making excuses as usual.

With that the councillor rolled the worry off her shoulders and went back to her computer database.

Time to do some profile building.

* * *

"Amy, I'm not sure if you noticed but you have a giant ass hammer."

Amy blushed, turning her eyes away from Sonic.

"Yeah, I do."

"How did you get it? Where does it go when you're not using it? Are you sure you're a peaceful Piko?"

The sea of questions was dumped on her head as Amy just walked along side him, panicking.

"Uh, it's my Piko object," Amy answered the first and second questions. She couldn't remember the billion ones that followed.

"It comforts you to hit things?"

Amy could feel every inch of her flesh burning from the inside out with shame.

Yes, it made her feel alive. Hitting, punching, yelling, letting everything go, it was too intoxicating for her to avoid sometimes.

Scourge was right. She _was_ a sadistic monster.

She was made to destroy, not give life, nurture or protect like the other Piko girls.

She was everything she shouldn't be.

The burning within rose to her face until she felt hot moisture in her eyes.

Amy looked down, closing her emerald orbs and pulling her hand away from Sonic's arm to wipe away stray tears.

"Whoa, whoa there, Doll. You okay?"

Amy nodded.

Sonic knew right off the bat it was a lie. Why did girls always lie about stuff like that?

it was so obvious she was upset.

Biting his lip he looked around helplessly.

He did not know how to deal with tears well, not when it was him, a friend or a stranger.

What should he do? What should he say?

Looking back at his despaired acquaintance he smiled and decided on a question.

"Why are you crying?"

"B-because you must...h-hate me."

Sonic's ears pinned back.

"Why would I hate you?"

"I'm a wicked child," Amy answered as though quoting from a text. "Such a bad, wicked girl."

"If you mean wicked as in awesome then yeah, you are."

Amy peeked out from her dampened eyelashes.

What did he mean?

"That was the bravest, most badass thing I've seen any chick do and I'm from Chaos!"

Amy sniffled out a response. "Is that good?"

"Good? It's great!" Sonic concluded. "You, my friend, are great."

Her pink ears perked at his statement.

"Friend...as in...friend?"

Sonic frowned.

The word sounded as though she had a foreign tongue on her lips.

Sonic gave her a once over and realized these were not just any tears he was witnessing. Her's were tears of pure self-loathing.

It was a tragic sight.

"Yeah, if that's what you want."

Amy let a soft smile grace her face as she wiped away her tear stains.

"I'd like that."

"Good. But you have to let me do the ass whooping next time. Agreed?"

Amy's eyes widened.

"No, no! I couldn't ask you to-"

Sonic waved it off.

"That's what friends are for. Now come on, we gotta check out the other booths."

* * *

"Tell us everything!"

Amy now understood what it felt like to be a cornered animal.

Here she was in the evening, perched peacefully on her bed checking her returned bags when WHAM!

Rouge came in and pinned Amy down, hovering above her with a giddy smile.

"Let her up," Cream scolded. "She's new from Piko. She's not used to this yet."

Amy had to get used to this?

Grumbling something about 'yes, mother,' the bat let her room mate up but plopped down beside her and stayed too close for comfort.

"How'd it go?"

"How did what go?"

Blaze rolled her eyes.

"So naive."

Cream smiled gently at the other girl and prompted her.

"You know how we left you at the fair?"

Amy nodded, still confused.

"We did it on purpose," Rouge explained. "So you and Sonic could get some alone time."

Amy puzzled at the wink Rouge gave her.

Was she supposed to understand why they wanted her and Sonic to be alone?

To be honest, Amy thought it was rather mean. She had just embarrassed him, after all.

What if he had been angry at her?

"Rouge and Cream here think Sonic needs a girlfriend," Blaze cut in. "And since you're the first single girl to pop up-"

"Not just that," Rouge insisted. "Did you see the way he looked at her this morning?"

"He found her in a closet," Blaze hissed. "He was just worried about her."

"What about how he walked up to the stand just to talk to her?"

The lilac cat shrugged.

"He likes books. She likes books. It natural to want to discuss a common interest."

"You just don't believe in love," Rouge pouted mockingly.

"I believe that love should come naturally," she argued. "It shouldn't be forced."

Amy was lost.

She had no idea what they were even talking about anymore.

What she did know, however, was that a nap after a long and turbulent day sounded really good.

"Oh no, Missy!" Rouge shook Amy by the shoulder. "You still have to give me an update."

You know that feeling that you get, where at a certain time you just kind of go from a beautiful princess to a fat ugly pumpkin? Well, this was Amy's pumpkin time.

She shrugged Rouge's hand off and mumbled. "We're friends now."

"Like, how close?"

"I don't know," Amy sighed.

"Do you think he...you know..." Cream suggested with a gasp.

"He couldn't have, so soon?"

Amy's eyes fluttered.

Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay a-

Forget it.

She crawled to the far right of the bed and started to curl up beneath her covers.

Oh, this was much better than her previous arrangements.

"Well, maybe he did. You never know with that guy. He's always so-"

"He friend zoned her! Alright? Now can we all just get some sleep."

Cream and Rouge frowned at Blaze.

Clearly that cat did not have a popular outlook on things.

"Okay," Cream nodded, stepping towards the door.

"We'll get going now, Rouge. Don't keep the new girl up too long."

Amy and Rouge's neighbours left for their own room and Amy felt relieved.

Finally, beddy-bye time.

"So, do you like him?"

Nope, sleep was hopeless.

* * *

"You're taking wood working?"

Amy glanced timidly away from the red echidna, Knuckles, who was peering over her shoulder.

"Funny. I didn't peg you as the type."

Honestly, Amy wasn't the type.

She never needed to take a trade class in Piko.

Here at Union, however, it was nessecary to graduate.

She just so happened to choose wood working.

"She can take wood working if she wants to take wood working," Sonic chimed in, flicking Knuckles in the ear. "Besides, she'll have an acquaintance in the next class."

Amy smiled, gazing up at Sonic.

"Are you in my class, then?"

He gave her a warm look back but shook his head.

"Sorry, Doll. I'm not. But Tails over there is."

Amy's eyes followed Sonic's finger to a two-tailed yellow fox who waved and spoke kindly.

"Hi!"

"...Hi."

"It's not too far from this lawn. Just a little down the path."

Amy smiled timidly.

"That's good."

She felt a large hand rest on her shoulder.

"Go on," Sonic encouraged. "He doesn't bite."

Amy approached the fox who held his hand up in a short greeting but kept his distance.

He couldn't have been a Chaos kid.

"Where are you from?" Amy wondered aloud.

"Gaia," the fox replied.

Amy nodded but cocked her head, a little confused.

Chaos named their kids after their Chaos super power.

Sonic was obviously fast. Knuckles was strong. Blaze must have had some sort of fire power. The only one she stumped on was Silver. He was just...named after his colour.

Tails was named for his tails, though. It seemed odd that Gaia parents would follow a Chaos tradition in naming.

"Tails is just my nickname," he added, picking up on Amy's puzzlement. "Miles is what my family calls me."

Amy blushed.

She must have been staring too long and too hard if he knew she was thinking about it.

"Sorry," she murmured an apology.

"No problem. But we should get going now."

Amy stole one last glance over her shoulder at Sonic.

He was heading the other way with Knuckles but he still looked back at her and shot her a nod.

Well, he was so nice how could she not take his encouragement.

"Alright, let's go."

Tails gestured for her to follow him as they walked.

"Great! We can be partners in class. I'll show you the ropes."

"Thank you," Amy purred in gratitude.

So far this was turning out to be not as bad as she initially thought.

Amy had one official friend and was paving the road for many more.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

**Alright, guys! I put my best into this, just for you. I hope you had fun reading it. Thanks to everyone! Please review and tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Smile**

_An expression indicating pleasure, approval or amusement._

* * *

"Assigned seating-"

The teacher needed to say nothing more.

He was cut off by the groans of his student's, lined up against the back wall of the classroom like prisoners.

"Assigned seating," he said again, more sternly, "will be in place starting today. Too much slacking went on when I let kids choose their partner's last year. So thank the seniors for this!"

Amy looked over at Tails who was smiling apologetically back at her.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't know."

Amy shrugged.

"It's alright."

It was not alright.

"I'll be okay."

She would be far less than okay.

"Are you sure?"

No!

Amy nodded timidly.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Tails wasn't exactly convinced.

What could he do though? The teacher had made it clear that seats were arranged this semester.

"I'm sure whoever you get paired up with will help you," Tails assured her. "Just ask them, alright?"

"Thank you, Miles," Amy said, looking back at the teacher, who was now reading over his class list. "I'll be sure to ask."

"Carol Badger and Peter Panda are at table one. Miles Prower and Scott Seal are table two. George Racoon and-"

The rest droned on as Amy watched Tails walk away over to his work bench and greet his partner.

He had such an easy smile and steady composure as he greeted the other boy.

Amy studied his movements.

She could do that. She was sure of it. When she got up to her seat and met her partner she would look them in the eye, smile and-

"Amy Rose and Shadow Hedgehog, table six."

Amy gulped, looking across the line at the other remaining students. The one who stepped forward was not who she hoped he'd be.

He was a tall hedgehog with black fur and a red dyed streak running along each of his quills. He was adorned in leather and denim from head to toe. Needless to say, he was hardly the comforting presence Amy needed.

"Amy Rose?"

Miles looked over at the girl, frozen against the wall, not moving to sit beside Shadow.

He could hardly blame her for being a little freaked out, after all, Shadow was freaky. But could she really justify being paralyzed to the spot?

The teacher shook his head and sighed in disappointment. "Absent on the first day."

"W-wait," Amy cut in with a small, sugary voice. "I'm her...I was just a little-"

"No excuses, just go sit down."

"Yes, sir."

Amy scurried across the room, feeling the other kids' eyes bore into her back.

This was hardly the ideal start to her classes but she could make the best of it. She always managed to make the best of things.

Amy plopped herself down in her seat and glanced over at her partner.

Shadow was even scarier up close. Not because he looked mean or big or had red eyes like pools of warm, flowing blood.

Nope, it was because sitting beside him now, Amy realized he was not bad looking. In fact, he was rather...

She blushed.

Bad Amy!

Boys lead to anger. Boys lead to anger. Boy's lead to anger.

"Why do you look constipated?"

Amy froze.

Shadow's voice was smooth and low with the kind of edge that made you feel like every word he said had some sort of darker double meaning.

She shivered and tried her best to smile.

"No reason, just thinking."

"Don't strain yourself."

Amy huffed.

Well, that was rude.

"Alright class," the teacher said, taking his place at the front. "You're going to be working very closely with the person beside you from now on so I want you to spend your time getting to know them."

He picked up a stack of paper from his desk and gave them to the front row to pass back.

When a paper landed in Amy's spot she read over it and realized they were all questions about Shadow.

"Fill out this question sheet and return it to me by the end of class," he instructed. "So I know you actually did it."

Amy heard Shadow sigh as he rested his muzzle on his hand.

"I'm guessing your favourite colour is pink?"

Again, so rude.

"Funny, I thought pink would be your colour," Amy grumbled under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Amy sang. "I like green."

"Hmph, red."

Amy scribbled the answer down under that first question.

"What do you like to eat?" Amy asked first this time.

For some reason she felt like he'd say something awful like 'the dreams of small orphan children.'

What he actually said surprised her.

"Pasta Napolitana."

Amy raised her brows.

"That sounds fancy."

He shrugged.

"It's just pasta with vegetable sauce."

Napolitana sounded fancier.

"I like ice cream."

Shadow made a face that warned her that he was painfully unimpressed as they moved on.

"Favourite movie?" Shadow groaned, not even trying to sound genuine.

Amy puzzled over that one.

She had only ever seen one movie before. She had watched it countless times in class back at Piko.

A movie about an angry girl with evil powers, just like her: Carrie.

"Carrie?" He raised a brow at her answer. "As in the horror movie."

She nodded in conformation.

Most Piko girls would have said The Notebook or something cliche and overused like that.

So, he just had to ask himself, why was the most Piko-esque Piko he had ever laid eyes on answering with a mentally scarring horror movie?

Not being able to comprehend it, he assumed it must have been a lie.

"Yeah, and I love Titanic."

Amy nodded, pretending to know what Titanic was, and scribbled the answer down.

"No, I don't actually...never mind."

The questions went on and on until finally, near the end of class, the last questions were asked.

Amy was relieved to be done.

She had no idea that there were people out there that could leave such an uncomfortable air hovering over her head during a mere casual conversation.

It was almost supernatural how he could do it.

Maybe it was his Chaos power.

With little warning, Shadow snatched away Amy's paper before handing her his.

"Go over it and make sure there are no mistakes."

Amy did as she was told, finding no problems as she did.

Shadow, on the other hand, scratched out Titanic and replaced it with Terminator immediately.`

Yeah, that sounded more macho.

He slapped Amy's work back down in front of her and reached out for his, Amy moved, keeping it away.

"Don't tell me you're not done," Shadow complained.

Amy ignored him.

She was too invested with what she had found in Shadow's work to bother flushing red and handing back his sheet.

Shadow had written his answers in perfect cursive. It was elegant, graceful, surprising.

Amy smiled.

Never before had she seen such lovely penmanship.

It was such a small thing but it really did make her happy to see.

"Gimme that," Shadow growled, getting annoyed.

The paper was taken but the image still remained.

She looked at him, eyes wide and dazzled by the talent that hid beneath such a stiff mask.

"What?" He hissed.

This girl was staring at him a little too hard and the shyer part of him wanted to curl up because of it.

Was she judging him or something?

She might as well have been. Everyone else did.

"You write like a prince," Amy said, not being able to keep the thoughts inside her head anymore.

He hadn't been expecting that.

Varied emotions crossed his face, first shock, then confusion and then that one expression that would mark the first of many.

His lips turned up as a ghost of a smile crossed his face.

As quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

Amy blinked, sure that she had imagined it entirely.

Then the bell rang.

"You're new, right?" Shadow questioned.

"Yes."

"Thought so. I'd remember your face if I'd seen it before."

Amy gathered her books in her arms and stood, stepping to leave.

Shadow rose suddenly, blocking her way.

"What class do you have?" He almost demanded of her. "I could take you there."

Amy was past confused right now.

She could have sworn that only a few seconds ago he had hated her perky guts.

Now he wanted to help her?

She was about to stammer through a hesitant yes when someone interrupted them.

"Hey, Amy," Tails said from behind her.

She turned to see his welcoming face smiling at her.

"Miles." Shadow addressed the other boy. "You know her?"

"She's a friend of Sonic's," he answered, putting some kind of sharpness to his otherwise warm words. "I'm keeping an eye on her for him."

The hedgehog grimaced, looking away.

"I see."

"Let's get going," Tails said, giving Amy elbow a gentle tug. "I'll take you to English."

She walked along with Tails, trailing behind him like a lost puppy and said a rushed goodbye to Shadow.

He just frowned at the two as they walked away.

Why was Amy getting the feeling that she had just found her way into the middle of trouble?

* * *

It was 7 o'clock, on the dot, and the Union Academy Book Club reserved the library for their first meeting of the year.

Amy walked up to the tall, gothic building and toyed with her skirt nervously.

What if the kids there didn't like her? What if she didn't have any fun? What if she sucked at Book Club? Was that even possible?

All these questions swirled through her head as she advanced towards the door.

As she entered, all those worries vanished.

"Hey! Amy! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

"Ssshhh!"

Amy smiled at Sonic, who was flailing his arms around in his seat.

He was grinning from ear to ear, not even caring that the rest of the club was pretty peeved at him.

Amy walked over to the reading tables that were wedged between countless shelves and took her seat beside Sonic.

She took note of the open book laid on the table in front of him and lifted the cover slightly to get a good look at it.

"Pride and Prejudice," she read. "That's Jane Austen, right?"

He nodded, stretching his arms over his head and out as he did.

"Yep, her most regarded work. Have you read it?"

Amy didn't exactly have the wits to answer that question. She was more concerned with the fact that Sonic's arm rested around her on the back of her chair.

"Um...I...I haven't."

"No worries." he waved it off, misinterpreting why she was on edge. "I haven't read it either. I heard it was a piece of fluff."

"Fluff?"

"Mmhmm, romance at it's mushiest."

Amy giggled.

She wasn't sure why, exactly. There was just something about Sonic that made her want to giggle.

"Do you not like romance?"

"Not most, no." He admitted. "I believe that romantic fiction holds both males and females to unrealistic degrees of perfection and that it skews perception of what a healthy relationship actually is."

Wow...that was deep.

Amy could feel her mouth go dry as Sonic waited for a response.

Maybe people actually _could _be bad at Book Club.

She had no idea what to say.

"I've never actually read a romance novel," Amy decided to add in. "They wouldn't let me in Piko."

"Why's that?"

"They said love had too many confusing emotions to deal with. They were worried it would make me angry."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Seriously? So it wasn't just romance books? It was love in general?"

She shrugged.

So?

Why would she need to love in the first place? It wasn't necessary for survival or anything.

Besides, it was for her own good.

"What about your parents?" Sonic half wondered half joked. "Were you at least allowed to love them?"

What parents?

An answer played on Amy lips before they were interrupted.

"Hey guys! I'm Maia, president of the club, for those of you who don't remember. Let's officially start off this years Book Club. Has everyone got a copy of Pride and Prejudice?"

Sonic raised his hand up and pointed at Amy, indicating that she needed one.

Maia smiled, kneeling down to a pile of books beneath the table and sliding it over to Amy.

"Well, I'm afraid this is going to be a slow meeting today because we have nothing on the book to discuss yet but if you guys could get started on reading from chapters one to five then when we meet next week there'll be plenty to talk about."

Maia clapped her hands together.

"Now get to it."

* * *

Maia's promise that the first meeting would be slow was not in vain.

Not that Amy minded. She rather liked the casual pace as she simply read.

Now it was around 8 o'clock and everyone was being sent home.

Amy walked along to the girls' dorm with Sonic in tow.

"Isn't the boy's residence the other way."

"Yeah," he confirmed. "But I wanna walk you home, make sure you get there okay."

It was a nice notion, a very nice notion indeed.

"So," Sonic went on, "I never got to ask. How was your first day?"

"Good," Amy chirped. "I did well with all my classes so far and I met new people."

"I'd call that a good day."

"Absolutely!"

"Who did you meet?"

A pair of red eyes flashed through Amy's mind.

She shivered.

Shadow's were just the kind of eyes that left a icy, strong impression on you.

"Cold?" Sonic asked.

"No, I'm fine. I just-"

Before she could finish, Sonic had his uniform black blazer off and was draping it carefully over her shoulders.

"There you go. That should help a little."

Almost on instinct, Amy hugged the jacket closer to herself.

It was so warm and easy to hold close, just like it's owner.

She stopped walking and looked down at the materiel lovingly.

"You could just be the nicest person in the world," Amy whispered.

Sonic caught every word.

Really?

He didn't think he was that great. He was just being kind.

"What? No way! There are plenty other's. I mean, Tails, Cream, Gandhi, they're all nicer than me."

Amy just shook her head, her smile glowing radiantly in the dim evening light.

"Thank you, Sonic."

She began her stride anew, walking on towards the light of the dorms.

Sonic found that he was following her now.

She had a grace about her that no meekness could over shadow.

He found it quite admirable.

They arrived at their destination in no time and entered the foyer.

Amy turned around and began to slip off the jacket Sonic had given her.

He held out his hand, expecting that Amy would just hand it to him but found himself at a loss for words when she circled around to his back.

He felt her tiny hands ease his arms through the cloth as she helped him back into it.

Gingerly, she traced her hands along his broad shoulders, patting the fabric perfectly into place.

Sonic felt his breath hitch as she came back around and patted down the lapels as well.

He could feel her hands resting steadily on his chest.

He could swear he heard his heart beat fluttering in his ear in that second.

Amy's eyes went up as they both smiled at each other.

The momnet was peaceful, warm, totally without pressure on either end.

It was hard not to soak it in.

"Goodnight, Amy," Sonic purred in the purest of tones.

Amy felt blood rush to her cheeks and, oddly enough, her lips, as she stood there with him.

He was handsome, very handsome. He looked like the kind of boy you'd find in a palace, surrounded by golden finery but out shining it all.

Her eyes flickered down to his lips. They looked so inviting. Maybe she could just-

She pushed away and crossed her arms.

Boys lead to anger.

This was the second time today she had forgotten that. She hoped she wouldn't make a habit of this.

"Good night," Amy responded, shooing Sonic with her voice.

He blinked away his confusion at her sudden movement.

He felt it weigh down like rejection in his gut. That was not a good feeling.

With care to her now jumpy nerves Sonic took a slow step forward and pecked a kiss at her cheek.

"Sleep well, Doll."

With that he was out the door.

Amy raised a hand to the skin where his lips had brushed her.

He was so tender with her.

Could boys really be as bad as she'd been told?

"Don't think I didn't see that, missy."

Amy whipped around, finding Rouge sitting on the stairs, peaking through the railing's bars.

"He totally likes you."

Amy blushed.

She didn't know if he liked her but she was sure of one thing: she hoped he did.

* * *

**Hi! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this update, especially with the introduction of Shadow. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and keeping up with this so far. Leave a review, if you like and tell me what you think. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay guys, I usually put Author's Notes after a chapter but for this one I'm making an exception.**

**I had a bit of culture shock the other day. A few helpful readers pointed out to me that in some places the word Puss does not mean the same thing it means where I live. Thanks to those who told me, by the way. :)**

**Here it's a term of endearment that people use to refer to children, just to put it in context. So you can imagine how shocked I was that it was used as an offensive term for a female body part.**

**My point, I suppose, is that I'm sorry if anyone was offended or confused by the use of the word. I have edited it out, just to be safe.**

**Now that that's over, thank you to all of you who are reading and if any more problems come up in the story please don't hesitate to leave your concerns in a review or PM me. I don't bite, I promise. :)**

**Back to the story, now.**

* * *

**Gossip**

_Idle talk, especially about another's personal or private affairs._

* * *

Rouge texted Knuckles, who texted Tails, who texted Cream, who texted Blaze, who texted Silver, who texted everyone on his contacts list by accident...Oops.

Needless to say, a rumour spread quickly around the school.

Like a game of broken telephone, what started as Sonic's innocent kiss goodnight on Amy's cheek became a heated make out session on the girls' dorm stairwell. At least the stories didn't go any further.

Amy kept her head down, sandwiched between Blaze, Rouge and Cream as they walked with her at lunch.

Amy had been getting looks all week.

She was the girl who snatched up one of Union's most eligible bachelors in a matter of days. Or, in some people's minds, gave into him.

Responses varied from jealous glares to flirting boys who thought she would be an easy snag.

It was awful.

"I'm really sorry about this," Rouge sighed, squeezing Amy's shoulder in empathy.

"Me too," Cream chimed in, sadly.

"I'm the most sorry," Blaze frowned. "I sent it to Silver, after all."

"It's alright," Amy half lied. "I'm not upset."

The truth was that all this_ had _upset her.

She had been tossed into the spotlight for everyone to scrutinize and she didn't like what they had to say about her.

Despite that, she didn't blame anyone. Silver pressed a wrong button, sue him.

"I'm sure it'll blow over in a while," Blaze predicted, guilt still coating her voice. "People will see you and Sonic aren't a couple and realize how ridiculous they're being."

Rouge shook her head. "Not with the way those two are. They're always arm-in-arm."

Amy flushed, crossing her arms.

She didn't like how Rouge was talking about this as though she wasn't there.

"Not _always._"

"Yes always." Rouge insisted. "But it's not a bad thing. You make him happy; it's good."

Well, there was no arguing with that.

She still didn't like that speculation on her love life was the common topic of both the school and the girls.

"Can we change the subject?" Amy peeped, not wanting to sound too insistent.

"Gladly," Blaze smiled, giving the hedgehog a nod. "Are we going into the City tonight?"

Amy's ears perked up. The City? Amy had never been there.

It was a mere bus ride away from Union and famous throughout all the colonies.

Just like the Academy it mixed all the cultures together. Sure, the colonies each had a different district but they still shared the same city.

"Is that allowed?" Amy asked.

"Sure is," Cream answered. "We're set free from Friday night to Sunday."

Amy smiled at that thought.

Set free? That sounded amazing!

"What do you guys usually do in the City?"

"We go to the Chaos district," Rouge replied with a grin.

"They throw a huge party in the streets every Friday and Saturday!" Cream added happily. "They're a lot of fun."

Amy cocked her head and thought about that for a second.

Parties? She was pretty sure her teachers said something about parties. She couldn't quite recall what though.

All Amy did know was that she had never been to one. She knew the basics of what they were though.

It sounded fun. Scary, but fun.

"Can I come with you?" Amy wondered. "If you're going, that is."

Rouge stopped and looked at the girl oddly.

"Well, duh you can come. We're friends now, aren't we?"

Amy's expression brightened at Rouge's proclamation.

"Of course," she chirped. "We're friends."

Despite the rumors and the glares, Amy's outlook was much lighter than only a few minutes before.

She officially had a whole group of friends.

* * *

"Aw, that looks cute on you, Amy," Cream complimented the other Piko girl, giggling as Amy twirled in her yellow sun dress.

"Thanks," she responded, coming to a halt and patting the skirt down proudly.

All four girls had managed to squeeze themselves into Blaze and Cream's room as they showed off, waiting for the boys to come.

Amy and Cream stood by the door, gushing with Blaze, perched comfortably on the end of her bed, about how fun this would be. Well, they were gushing. Blaze doesn't gush.

Meanwhile, Rouge was lazing cross legged on the rabbit's bed. Her eyes were glued to her phone as she texted her boyfriend, frowning all the while.

She remembered how she and Cream had speculated about Sonic friend zoning Amy. Well, based on this conversation, the situation was worse than anticipated.

'Sonic says she's so sweet. It would be weird like dating his baby sister.'

The baby sister zone, if you thought the friend zone was bad try being there.

Rouge would have to change that.

"Don't worry about the party," Blaze tried to comfort Amy's jumpy nerves on the other side of the dorm room. "Cream was scared to death of the parties too but now she loves them."

"As long as you stick close to a friend it's great." Cream added. "But don't wander off."

"Such a mother," Blaze mumbled.

"DON'T SASS ME!"

All three girls giggled at the out burst.

Amy couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun, or even felt like she belonged somewhere. Now she had that and it was great.

"The boys'll be here in twenty minutes," Rouge cut in, raising her eyes from the palm sized screen. "That's just enough time to fix Amy up."

Cream and Blaze cocked their heads in confusion as Amy frowned.

"What's wrong with the way I look now?"

Rouge looked the girl over. She had to admit, the pale yellow sun dress looked adorable on her, but in it you might as well tie her quills in pigtails and call Sonic her big bro.

"There's nothing...wrong with it," Rouge paused, looking for a way to convey the message. "But it won't get Sonic's attention."

Blaze rolled her eyes.

"Not this again."

"This is entirely up to you, Amy," Rouge spoke over the groaning lilac cat. "But as of now Sonic sees you like his little, cowering sister. If that's gonna change we have to act...fast."

Now Amy wasn't saying she liked Sonic in a romantic sense. To be completely honest, she wasn't quite sure how she liked him at all. But she definitely didn't want to be his cowering baby girl or even his arm candy, for that matter.

In fact, Amy didn't want to be defined by her association to him at all. She wanted to be known as her own person.

She definitely didn't want Sonic to look at her like a baby though.

Maybe if she turned around, showed how she didn't have to rely on him, he'd at least think of her as Amy, not the shy girl he needed to protect.

"What do you need to fix then?"

Blaze slapped her palm onto her forehead, closing her eyes desperately.

"This is a bad idea."

"Honey," Rouge spoke slyly, "bad ideas are synonymous with romance."

And with that the prepping of Amy Rose began.

* * *

"Where are they?" Knuckles tapped his foot impatiently. "We've been waiting too long."

"It's only been five minutes," Tails said with a huff. "All of you are so impatient."

Sonic frowned.

He agreed with Knuckles on this one, not that he'd ever admit it.

They had probably been up there for at least a half an hour before they arrived. Wasn't that enough time?

Then again, this was coming from a boy who took ten minutes and a spritz of cologne to look this good.

Sonic had traded his uniform's dress shirt and blazer for a white T-shirt with a V-neck and his best, and by that I mean least ripped, pair of black skinny jeans. Top that off with wind swept quills and killer confidence and you had Sonic.

He looked around at his friends, all equally good looking in their own right, and smiled.

See what ten minutes could get you?

Then again, if you did the math, that meant the girls should be three times better.

Well, who are these guys to complain if their ladies look hot?

Chuckling at the thought, Sonic almost didn't notice the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs.

He turned at the sound of the first compliment flying from Knuckles mouth.

"Babe! You look great!"

"Thanks. It was all for you."

Sonic watched his friends practically strutting down the stairs and observed them pairing up, as always.

Rouge and Knuckles were attached at the hip.

Cream and Tails kind of just stood there, stuttering through a debate on who looked better.

Silver on the other hand, sighed.

"What took you so long?"

"Oh hi, Silver," Blaze greeted sarcastically. "You look nice too."

"I didn't want to be Captain Obvious," Silver responded, sincerely. "I mean, you're the best looking girl in the room."

And that's why you gotta love Silver.

Yeah, he slips up. But when he smooth talks it means all the more because he means it. He always says what he means.

Sonic smiled and shook his head.

Once again, he was the lone wolf.

Oh well, he always found someone to dance with regardless, whether he ended up asking some random girl or tangoing with Silver on the dance floor.

"Everyone's here," he jumped in on the conversations. "Shall we?"

"I don't see Amy, though," Cream answered, glancing around.

Sonic's eyes widened.

Innocent little Amy at a party? Now way! They couldn't invite her.

"Are you trying to scare her away?" He hissed. "She's just like a kid, okay? You need to be more careful with-"

"Uh, Sonic?"

Her little voice rang in his ear as he whirled around.

His jaw fell at what he saw in front of him.

He blushed shamefully as his eyes went down to her attire.

One thought was running through his mind at a frantic pace, over and over: blue looked HOT on Amy Rose.

* * *

**Yay! Another Author's Note and another chapter complete. It was a short one but the next will be jam packed with goodness, I promise.**

**Feel free to check out my new story, Parental Control, if you like this one. **

**Thanks! I really appreciate all you guys who are reading this. Review and tell me what you think.**


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